Andrew Wingard and Josh Allen Named MW Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week

Posted: Mon 2:11 PM, Oct 30, 2017

The Mountain West Conference honored two Wyoming Cowboys with player of the week honors on Monday as junior strong safety Andrew Wingard was named the MW Defensive Player of the Week and junior quarterback Josh Allen was named Offensive Player of the Week for their performances in leading Wyoming to a 42-3 home win over New Mexico last Saturday.

Wingard intercepted two passes in the second quarter versus New Mexico that both led to touchdowns on way to Wyoming’s victory over the Lobos. He was the leader of a Wyoming defense that forced a school record seven takeaways, with 35 points being scored by the Cowboys off those turnovers. In addition to his two interceptions, Wingard had five solo tackles and of those five tackles four were made for five yards or less, including tackles for no gain, 2 yards, 2 yards and 5 yards. It was the first multiple interception game of his college career. The Cowboy defense allowed only 115 rushing yards, 69 passing yards and 184 yards of total offense to the Lobos.

Entering this week, Wingard ranks in the Top 20 in the nation in both solo tackles (ranked No. 10 with 6.1 solo stops per game) and total tackles (ranked No. 18 at 9.6 tackles per game) for the 2017 season.

Allen completed 16 of 28 passes (57.1 percent) for 234 yards, 4 TDs and no interceptions versus New Mexico. He added 20 rushing yards and one rushing TD for 254 yards of total offense against the Lobos. Allen’s four touchdown passes went for 4, 11, 19 and 38 yards, and his TD run was from one yard out. His five touchdowns responsible for tied a personal high for him. Allen generated six explosive plays -- five pass plays of 21, 31, 19, 38 and 18 yards and one run of 11 yards. He ended the game with a quarterback rating of 174.5. He connected with nine different receivers in the game, and helped the Cowboys score 35 points off the first five turnovers UW forced in the game.

It is Wingard’s second MW Player of the Week honor this season and the third of his career. Earlier this season he was recognized for his play in a 28-23 overtime win over Hawai’i, and in 2016 Wingard was named the MW Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in a 38-17 win at Colorado State.

For Allen, it was his first MW Player of the Week recognition this season and the third of his career. He was also honored in 2016 for his performances in wins over Northern Illinois and Utah State.

The last time Wyoming had multiple players honored in the same week by the Mountain West was in 2016 when Allen and linebacker Logan Wilson were honored for their play against Utah State.

Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Wingard was voted by conference media members as the 2017 Preseason Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and Allen was named the 2017 Preseason Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year. Wingard is a native of Arvada, Colo., where he played at Ralston Valley High School. Allen hales from Firebaugh, Calif., and most recently played at Reedley Community College in Reedley, Calif.

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